Debates of November 28, 2007 (day 4)

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Yakeleya.

Return To Question 29-16(1): Deh Cho Bridge Concession Agreement

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the concession agreement is the lead agreement under the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation’s arrangements for the development, design and construction operations and maintenance and management of the bridge.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Supplementary To Question 29-16(1): Deh Cho Bridge Concession Agreement

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in questioning the department in the past on the operation, collection and administration of tolls on the proposed Deh Cho Bridge, I would like to ask the Minister if the costs associated with the collection of tolls, the administration of tolls, is included in that concession agreement, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Yakeleya.

Further Return To Question 29-16(1): Deh Cho Bridge Concession Agreement

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I will have to double check, but I believe so.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Supplementary To Question 29-16(1): Deh Cho Bridge Concession Agreement

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister if he could, for the House, outline or give us a list of the 12 outstanding schedules and appendices to the concession agreement that remain outstanding. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Yakeleya.

Further Return To Question 29-16(1): Deh Cho Bridge Concession Agreement

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As soon as I get the completed list, I will certainly provide that to the Members of the House.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Supplementary To Question 29-16(1): Deh Cho Bridge Concession Agreement

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I look forward to getting that information at whatever time the Minister can provide it. Yesterday, also in Hansard, both the Minister and the Premier talked about a willingness to get together with Members to discuss the process and try to get a better understanding of that process and what happened in the decision-making. I would like to ask the Minister again today if he would look at a public inquiry to try to find out exactly how the decision was arrived at to sign that concession agreement. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Yakeleya.

Further Return To Question 29-16(1): Deh Cho Bridge Concession Agreement

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are a lot of benefits to the Deh Cho Bridge. However, Mr. Speaker, I want to say that this involves a lot of parties and communities like Fort Providence, Behchoko and Yellowknife Members here. Mr. Speaker, the Premier has committed the review of this process. I will be working closely with the Premier and the Members of this House to that commitment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today, I spoke of the need to reprofile the senior citizens’ facility in Fort Resolution to handle extended care. I can tell you that a facility lends itself to doing this. So there is only a minimum capital cost involved, but there would also be a requirement for some dedicated nursing staff. Can the Minister of Health and Social Services inform the Assembly whether the department has considered expanding the level of services available through the Fort Resolution seniors’ facility to handle extended care patients?

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.

Return To Question 30-16(1): Expansion Of Seniors’ Facility In Fort Resolution

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my understanding is that there have been, for a long time, very in-depth ongoing discussions between the department and the community of Resolution with regards to the best use of this facility and that all of the assessments that have been done suggest that the facility, the way it was built -- and it was built by the NWT Housing Corporation -- wasn’t meant for extended care facility for seniors. It was meant more for seniors who were able to live more independently. To make it into an extended care unit will require very extensive renovation including renovated kitchen, access and lots of other renovations. At the moment, Mr. Speaker, my understanding is that it is not feasible to make this an extended care unit for the seniors. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Supplementary, Mr. Beaulieu.

Supplementary To Question 30-16(1): Expansion Of Seniors’ Facility In Fort Resolution

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for that answer. I know that many elders from Fort Resolution have lived in, and are living in, extended care situations in Yellowknife, Hay River and Fort Smith. Can the Minister tell me whether the department has done any cost-benefit analysis and the feasibility of repatriating these elders to Fort Resolution and caring for them in their own home community in the seniors’ facility in Fort Resolution? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Ms. Lee.

Further Return To Question 30-16(1): Expansion Of Seniors’ Facility In Fort Resolution

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I do understand the desire on the part of the Member and the community to be able to provide services to the seniors in their local community as much as possible. I am committed to that. I am reviewing the programs we have to see how we can accommodate that. I have also had conversations with the chief of Deninu Kue and the Member extensively. I hope to get to the community soon and look at all options available to see how we can accommodate seniors in that community as much as possible. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Supplementary, Mr. Beaulieu.

Supplementary To Question 30-16(1): Expansion Of Seniors’ Facility In Fort Resolution

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Minister commit to providing all of the options, examination of those options on this issue, to the Legislative Assembly for the February session?

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Ms. Lee.

Further Return To Question 30-16(1): Expansion Of Seniors’ Facility In Fort Resolution

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yes, I plan on doing extensive work on that. We are planning a visit to Resolution to meet with the leadership and to review the programs that are available there. So, yes, I will work closely with the Member to see what we can do with this facility and what extended services we could provide to elders in the community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are to the Premier in regards to my Member’s statement in finding new ways of dealing with capacity crisis we have in a lot of our communities. Mr. Speaker, we have a situation throughout the Northwest Territories of attracting professions to fill a lot of positions in communities throughout the Northwest Territories, but it is becoming more and more difficult for us to be able to find people in the different professional fields that we are looking at, from mental health to education to community capacity, by way of SAOs and financial officers. But yet, Mr. Speaker, aboriginal organizations have been using the Frontier Foundation to find individuals who have the different professions. We have people who have retired who have a lot of experience and have a lot to offer. There are organizations out there that can help our communities deal with these vacancies that we have because of just trying to find professional people to come into our communities.

I would like to ask the Premier, is the Premier and this government open to working with foundations such as the Frontier Foundation to help our communities fill those vacancies that are out there? In some cases, two or three years these positions have been vacant but yet we can’t fill them. I would like to ask the Premier, is this government open to working with the Frontier Foundation to help us deal with this capacity issue in our communities? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.

Return To Question 31-16(1): Rural Community Capacity Development

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as we have in the past, and the Member used an example of district education authorities working with the program to have people come in and help with the schools, so, yes, as a government, we are open to looking at avenues where we can have that type of assistance available in our communities. The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs does work with communities to open this type of dialogue with those groups. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Supplementary To Question 31-16(1): Rural Community Capacity Development

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in regards to the area of capacity, I am talking more than municipal responsibilities; I am talking about program responsibilities, mental health, alcohol and drug positions, no police in a lot of our communities, justice workers, probation officers, you name it. These positions are vacant in a lot of our communities because we can’t…

Do you have a question, Mr. Krutko?

I would like to ask the Premier to look at this with a broad brush to look at all areas throughout the Government of the Northwest Territories. The programs and services are not being delivered in our communities because they have not been able to attract those people to fill those positions.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mr. Roland.

Further Return To Question 31-16(1): Rural Community Capacity Development

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the fact is, across the North and in many of our communities, it is an ongoing challenge to have staff in all of our positions that are available. We do look for opportunities and options that may be available to us. So I would be prepared to work with Members of this Assembly to see what avenues we may be able to look at to try to lighten that area or relieve the workload or put people in places. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Supplementary To Question 31-16(1): Rural Community Capacity Development

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In regards to the Premier’s response, I’d like to ask the Premier, if this is a temporary fix where we know we’re not…It’s been quite a while before these positions have been filled. So I’d like to ask the Premier if he’s willing to sit down with myself, with individuals from the foundation, different communities that are supportive of this effort to move forward on trying to find a way that we include these types of organizations in the existing policy that we have in regards to community empowerment.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mr. Roland.

Further Return To Question 31-16(1): Rural Community Capacity Development

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as we have in the past with a number of departments looked at these options and have worked in this environment, I’d be happy to sit down with the Member and look at what options are available, how we can work in there. We also have to look at the framework that we do operate in and there may be some restrictions that we have to work with. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Supplementary To Question 31-16(1): Rural Community Capacity Development

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would also like to include the different municipal organizations and the NWT Association of Municipalities in this, because we are having some crisis situations in our communities; policing, nursing. Those things aren’t being delivered in our communities and I think it’s critical that we have these positions filled. So I look forward to working with the Premier, but also including other organizations, agencies. I, again, would like to thank the Premier for moving on this. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. I’m not sure if I heard a question there. Mr. Roland.

Further Return To Question 31-16(1): Rural Community Capacity Development

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I committed to working with the Member, and Members of this Assembly, and organizations, we can also use the work that’s been done through Municipal and Community Affairs with communities across the Northwest Territories. So I’m prepared to sit down and look at what options are available to us. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Human Resources. As I mentioned in my Member’s statement, the United Way of Yellowknife contribution drive is well underway. The deadline for GNWT employees to sign up for payroll deductions is December 14th. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister commit to use the resources at his disposal to provide a reminder of this deadline to all of us in the GNWT prior to December 14th? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Minister responsible for Human Resources, Mr. Bob McLeod.

Return To Question 32-16(1): United Way Of Yellowknife

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The United Way is a very important organization and I participated in the opening of their fundraising efforts. It’s an organization that we are working with and, certainly, I would be pleased to put in a reminder to all GNWT employees to sign on and start contributing to the United Way.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, without sufficient resources and crime fighting laws such as the SCAN legislation, we will continue to have problems with drugs and alcohol in our community. Mr. Speaker, my question will be to the Premier of this House to answer this, but the fact is SCAN legislation won’t be the end all. I realize it’s part of the puzzle; that we will require good education, poverty plays a role as well as treatment options. So my question to the Premier in regards to SCAN is, will he commit to having the SCAN legislation reintroduced into this House so we can have good public consultation about this law? Thank you.